<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3dEVFk_0vksIfA100" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3dEVFk_0vksIfA100" width="333" height="500" ><figcaption>Dordt University engineering student Grant Merritt stands beside the canoe he built with his grandfather this summer during his free time. His was one of many entries into the “While We Were Out” art exhibit.</figcaption></figure>SIOUX CENTER—Dordt University hosted many colorful entries in its “While We Were Out” art exhibit this year, but among the splendid array of quilts, pottery, paintings and photographs, one exhibit was impossible to miss: a 16-foot-tall wooden canoe standing upright in the campus art gallery.This notable piece was crafted by 21-year-old engineering student Grant Merritt of Encinitas, CA.“While We Were Out,” held from Sept. 10-19, featured more than 60 pieces of artwork in a variety of mediums from more than 45 artists connected to the Dordt community, including artists in grade school through retirement. It began in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for the community to show the creative endeavors many became involved with during the lockdown.Merritt built the canoe while living with his grandparents in Visalia, CA, this summer. He made the move to his grandparents’ home to be closer to his internship with Flatiron Construction working on the California high speed rail. He built the canoe during his free time with the help of his grandfather, Andy Verhoeven.Building canoes isn’t something new for Merritt’s grandfather. It was something Merritt as he grew up had watched Verhoeven do before in his woodworking studio, and Merritt would develop a woodworking hobby himself.He had previously submitted two wooden guitars he had made to previous “While We Were Out” exhibits and built a carpetball table and other smaller projects with his grandfather when he was younger.Staying with his grandparents for the whole summer offered an opportunity to embark on a larger scale woodworking project with his grandfather.“It was kind of a perfect time to build a canoe, and I’ve always wanted to build one,” Merritt said. “So, I asked him if he wanted to build one with me, and that was our summer project.”Every day throughout the summer when he got back home, he’d spend three or four hours working on it until suppertime. As the canoe began to take shape, Merritt and his grandfather encountered the intricacies of woodworking: measuring, remeasuring, testing and pieces still not fitting how they were supposed to.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1RBjAp_0vksIfA100" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1RBjAp_0vksIfA100" width="1247" height="1663" ><figcaption>Dordt University engineering student Grant Merritt enjoyed the chance to build a canoe alongside his grandfather, Andy Verhoeven, while staying with him in Visalia, CA, this summer.</figcaption></figure>“We’d just have to play with it, figure out what was wrong, and how to fix it,” Merritt said. “Some of them we just glued on and hoped it would work itself out in the end.”For Merritt, one of the most rewarding parts of the experience was working next to his grandfather on a large-scale project.“We get along great, we can banter with each other, and then working side-by-side with another person, in my opinion that’s the best way to get to know someone,” Merritt said. “A lot of his stories I’ve heard before, but some of them were new as well.”Merritt transported it on the 26-hour drive from California to Dordt by strapping it to the roof of his Toyota Forerunner. The canoe spanned the length of the car.In Utah, he encountered strong side-winds and had to make a pit stop to add extra straps to the canoe for security.“It’s hard to say whether the canoe was about to fall off the side, but it was closer than anyone would like,” Merritt said.Merritt and the canoe arrived safely at Dordt, where he submitted it to “While We Were Out.” After its time in the art gallery is done, Merritt plans to take his creation to the water.“I’m hoping to take it out to Okoboji this weekend, get it in the water for its inaugural trip,” Merritt said. “I’m looking forward to it being in the water finally.”Dordt University art professor David Platter praised the work of the many exhibitors who made up this year’s “While We Were Out” exhibit as a wonderful way for them to share their talents with the wider community.“Every year I say it’s my favorite one, and I think I really mean it every year, but this year — I don’t know how we’re going to top it,” Platter said. “There’s such diversity here, such a high level of workmanship and craftsmanship. It’s a phenomenal show.”</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Canoe art exhibit makes waves at Dordt

SIOUX CENTER—Dordt University hosted many colorful entries in its “While We Were Out” art exhibit this year, but among the splendid array of quilts, pottery, paintings and photographs, one exhibit was impossible to miss: a 16-foot-tall wooden canoe standing upright in the campus art gallery. This notable...